Ruby Sparks

[MacGuffin]

Release date: July 25, 2012

Starring: Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Antonio Banderas, Annette Bening, Steve Coogan, Elliott Gould, Chris Messina, Deborah Ann Woll

Directed by: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris

Premise: Calvin (Paul Dano) is a young novelist who achieved phenomenal success early in his career but is now struggling with his writing - as well as his romantic life. Finally, he makes a breakthrough and creates a character named Ruby who inspires him. When Calvin finds Ruby (Zoe Kazan), in the flesh, sitting on his couch about a week later, he is completely flabbergasted that his words have turned into a living, breathing person.

[Jeremy Blackman]

I just read a review, and apparently this is a knowing satire of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl phenomenon. Interesting.

[pete]

but aren't they all? like weren't annie hall or 500 days of summer self-aware as well?

[BB]

a knowing satire of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl phenomenon

Can't think of a better way to spend two hours!

[jenkins]

idgi

has anyone seen this and liked it? please share your feelings

he writes a story about a girl, the girl suddenly becomes real as he writes her, and because irl girls aren't like how one writes them (a girl is different from a person, as the movie says), he learns he shouldn't use irl or written dramatic devices to create a girl, bc a girl will be all human and full of conflict and unlimited possibility and etc. yeah i agree. this movie is to like, remind people of that?

dramatically speaking, this is cars-level imagination to me. you know that pixar movie cars, you know how cars exist as people or something? you gotta flex your imagination a bit to like cars, which helps you like cars. that's what flexing your imagination for cars does, it helps you like cars. this movie uses jokes about how madeup/impossible it is (how impossible the movie is), and there's a part in the end when someone explains how the dramatic foundation requires a lil flex of a personal imagination

think the point is to demonstrate how the complexities of humans are often lost through dramatic form (agreed) and mpdg's are a contemporary example (agreed) and the point will help the audience understand irl people better (mmk, thank you) and this is better than when people write what they wish life would be like (agreed) except this is a wish creation itself and now everything human seems all badass and awesome also (idgi)